Ravenloft: The Horrors Within Announced, Release Date Scheduled for June 2026

[Zarithar]

Back when Dragon+ was a thing, they said in an article that tabaxi were originally going to be an updated hybrid of Mystara rakasta and Faerun tabaxi since both were mostly obscure cat races. They kept the tabaxi name as it was less likely to be confused for raksashas.

So I maintain that tabaxi are the 5e equivalent of rakasta with a different name.

Rakasta lore is more in line with Leonin than Tabaxi, which basically seem like 5e's take on khajit. Yes I know they've existed since the Fiend Folio... just referring to their 5e iteration.

 

[Remathilis]

Rakasta lore is more in line with Leonin than Tabaxi, which basically seem like 5e's take on khajit. Yes I know they've existed since the Fiend Folio... just referring to their 5e iteration.

Leonin wasn't a thing when they updated tabaxi for Volo's Guide. They come from MTG and this was prior to Ravnica. All I'm saying was that they considered the tabaxi in 5e to be the redesign of the Mystara rakasta when they were designing them and that's good enough justification for me.

 

[Uta-napishti]

I really hope this is adding all kinds of lore and narrative tools and is not a rehash of the domains / advice in the amazingly great Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. I would NOT get excited to buy this just for the the addition of some darklord stat blocks, character options and new art.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

nothing wrong with cosmic horror CR 25 is disappointing though (personally I would not give him a stat block at all…)

I'm fine with him having a stat block, its his master Azathoth that shouldn't have a stat block.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I'm curious if he's a domain lord or are they doing something different with him. I mean, the Dark Powers couldn't hold a demigod, an Elder Evil seems a little out of their league...

I think if they took Cthulu while he's already napping it could make getting him alot easier.

My hope it mentions the fact that Cthulu is a priest of Azathoth, and we get options for building Clerics of Azathoth. & maybe appearances from other horrors from the extended Lovecraftian mytholose.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I play 5e, Shadowdark and OSE. I'm a sick individual.

They're each all better at slightly different things. Select the best tool for each job is what I say.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I really hope this is adding all kinds of lore and narrative tools and is not a rehash of the domains / advice in the amazingly great Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. I would NOT get excited to buy this just for the the addition of some darklord stat blocks, character options and new art.

I suspect this is going to be complementary, not a replacement, since so much of Van Richten's is effectively system neutral.

 

[Charlaquin]

I’mma be real, I kind of hate the idea of Cthulhu being in this book. I’m fine with him getting a D&D stat block, I just don’t want more freaking crossovers. Let Ravenloft be Ravenloft and Cthulhu by Torchlight be Cthulhu by Torchlight. We don’t need to throw every cool thing into a blender together, we can enjoy them both separately, for the things that make them distinct from each other, not in spite of them.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I’mma be real, I kind of hate the idea of Cthulhu being in this book. I’m fine with him getting a D&D stat block, I just don’t want more freaking crossovers. Let Ravenloft be Ravenloft and Cthulhu by Torchlight be Cthulhu by Torchlight. We don’t need to throw every cool thing into a blender together, we can enjoy them both separately, for the things that make them distinct from each other, not in spite of them.

Cthulhu is also in the sixth Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy book (the posthumous one not written by Douglas Adams). For a certain type of nerd, Cthulhu needs to be in everything, whether or not he fits thematically.

If anything, the King in Yellow and Carcosa fit the idea of Domains of Dread a lot better.

 

[Parmandur]

Well, I sure hope it is bigger than FotA. That book's content is great but it was a real missed opportunity. There was so much more they could have included in that book.

The price indicates that it is larger, for sure.